February 2017 Auction Ends Thursday, February 23rd, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 2/23/2017
Civil War soldier John Fessenden letter as a Private in the 49th Illinois Infantry. Letter covers Fessenden's service in the Battle of Shiloh, fought 6 & 7 April 1862. Letter is dated 10 April 1862 and addressed to his wife, in part: ''I was so unwell yesterday...it is very cold & wet & sleeping on the wet ground is hard for a man that is not very well. I will finish my history of the battle. At 7 o'clock it commenced in Prentice division 3/4 of a mile southwest of us & they advanced without a check making our men flee before them like sheep. They had artillery & we had none. Our cannons were at the river in less than an hour they were in our camp & they advanced in this way but our men would retreat & then make a stand & kill the enemy by scores but the enemy never stopped for anything to attend to their wounded but when they got within a mile & a half of the river our cannons began to play on them which held them in check some but still they advanced on us slowly all day & at sun an hour high they were within 3/4 of a mile of the landing when it was thought we must all be taken prisoner. You never saw such excitement there were more than five thousand able bodied men that could fight but they could not be rallied, some swam the river & after the shells began to come in among us we went down the river about a mile into the woods & we found the woods full of men. If our men had not got frightened on the start there never would to have been this defeat but it was a perfect surprise to our army & then there was no generalship display on our side. Every regt fought on its own hook. Old Gen Grant ought to be chocked. Buels forces were expected all day & at just the time we needed some of them arrived & our big guns that had been kept reserve was brought into action & held them back until dark. We came back & stayed in a tent that night. Buells forces reported all night they are better drilled men than ours & Buell is a better Gen than Grant. Well in the morning early the battle commenced in earnest for the rebels drunk on the success of the day before were sure of a victory but Buell took command & things went different, though the enemy had been reinforced with 30,000 during the night & a terrible battle ensued but our forces advanced on them gradually driving them back until about 1/2 past 2 oclock when they were put to flight...The timely arrival of Buells forces was all that saved us from all being taken prisoners for on Sunday we were whipped if the enemy had only known it & made a desperate rush they could have taken the landing. I will now give you a history of my tramp back to camp through the battle field...look to your right and left you can count 20 dead men mostly laying on their backs some with heads blown off some with a bowl through the eyes & head others with the lower part of their face blown off some through the lungs some through the bowels & one a awful sight his legs thighs & lower part of his bowels were blown all to fragments...J. W. F.'' Fessenden survived the war, but barely; he couldn't shake the dysentery he contracted as a soldier, resulting in chronic disabling illness for decades following the war. Letter is accompanied by his horrifying handwritten account of the illness from 1879, along with a partially-printed notarized affidavit from his doctor attesting to the severity of the illness, prepared as part of his application for Invalid Pension that same year. Lot also includes a war-dated slip signed by William R. Morrison, Colonel of the 49th Illinois Volunteers. Civil War letter runs 6pp. on a sheet of card-style stationery and an additional sheet. Measures 5.25'' x 8''. First sheet shows trimming to left edge, else near fine.
Civil War Letter on the Historic Battle of Shiloh & Its Gory Aftermath -- ''...heads blown off some with a bowl through the eyes & head others with the lower part of their face blown off...''
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